Hartselle latest city to contract with Morgan County to house inmates; addition to county jail planned

Hartselle is the latest municipality to contract with Morgan County Jail to house its inmates because it is cheaper than operating its own facility.

HARTSELLE, Alabama - Hartselle is the latest municipality to contract with Morgan County Jail to house its inmates because it is cheaper than operating its own facility.

"By getting the county to house our inmates, we're probably looking at a savings of about $42,000 per year," said Hartselle Mayor Don Hall. Hartselle City Council members recently voted to pay a stipend to Morgan County to feed and house inmates and close its five-cell jail located in its police department. The decision was prompted when a jailer retired and council members had to determine if it was cost effective to replace him, Hall said.

"We were averaging about 400 inmates a year, or about 1.5 inmates per day," the mayor said. The City of Hartselle once housed inmates for the cities of Somerville, Priceville and Falkville, but those towns have also contracted with Morgan County to house inmates, Hall said, which dried up some of Hartselle's revenue stream.

Under the agreement with Morgan County, Hartselle Police officers will deliver suspects they arrest to Morgan County Jail and also transfer them to any court appearances in Hartselle. The city will pay Morgan County $20 per day for housing and $3 per day for meals per inmate.

"We'll still have the same legal liabilities as if they were in our jail, for medical expenses and that type thing," Hall said. "But they have an infirmary at Morgan County Jail and we do not so that should help."

The City Council plans to close the Hartselle jail May 1.

Morgan County Sheriff Ana Franklin said the influx of inmates from the small municipalities plus the much-larger Morgan County city of Decatur, which also recently voted to house inmates at the county jail, has led to a need for a much larger facility.

A plan is in place to increase capacity at the current jail, built in 2006, by 380 inmates, Franklin said. Officials hope to break ground on the addition May 1.

"We currently can house 508 inmates," Franklin said. "We were nearing capacity and under a federal consent decree we cannot overcrowd above the limit at all. There's no temporary housing. No mattresses on the floor or anything like that allowed."

The new 380-bed addition will be a minimum-security wing, leaving the existing four-pod area to be divided among maximum-security inmates categorized by their crimes, Franklin said.

Bids have been let on the project. Once work gets under way, construction is expected to take 10 months, she said.

"Were glad we can work with these municipalities," the sheriff said. "It gives them a good option, somewhere to go that makes a lot of financial sense."